1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a window type air conditioner which has a simple structure, and is easy to assemble.
2. Background of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a disassembled perspective view of a related art window type air conditioner, referring to which the related art window type air conditioner will be explained.
There is a front grill 3 in front (a room side) of a base pan 1, at the bottom of the air conditioner. There is an inlet 3ifor passage of room air into the air conditioner, disposed in a lower portion of the front grill 3, and an outlet grill 3e in an upper portion of the front grill 3 for discharging the air heat exchanged in the air conditioner to the room again. There is a suction grill (not shown) fitted to the inlet 3i and a filter (not shown) between the suction grill and the inlet 3i. There is an air guide 7 on an inner side of the front grill 3, to which an indoor heat exchanger 5 is mounted. The indoor heat exchanger 5 cools down the air drawn through the inlet 3i by means of heat exchange with an operative fluid in an air conditioning cycle. The air guide 7 fitted on the base pan 1 partitions an inside space of the air conditioner into an indoor side and an outdoor side. That is, the indoor side is isolated from the outdoor side by the air guide 7, to cut off air flow and the like. There is a shaft hole 7xe2x80x2 formed in the air guide 7 to join the indoor side and the outdoor side by passing a rotating shaft of a motor 15 to rotate a sirocco fan 13. There is a brace 7B on an upper portion of the air guide 7 formed as one unit with the air guide 7 for fastening shroud 18 of a fan thereto. There is a control box storage space 8 in one side portion of the air guide 7 for storing a control box (not shown). There is a scroll 9 mounted inside of the air guide 7. The scroll 9 has a flow guide surface 9g formed therein with a curvature from one side to the other side. There is an orifice 11 fitted to a front surface of the scroll 9, and the orifice 11 has an orifice hole 12 for guiding air from the indoor heat exchanger 5 to the sirocco fan 13. There is a discharge guide 11e on top of the orifice 11 as one unit with the orifice 11 for guiding the heat exchanged air to the discharge grill 3e. Middle of a rear part of the discharge guide 11e is opened, and there are coupling parts 11xe2x80x2 at the opened part each for coupling with a top portion of the air guide 7. There is a finger guard xe2x80x98Fxe2x80x99 in a rear portion of the discharge guide 11e for blocking touch to the sirocco fan 13. There is a projection xe2x80x98Exe2x80x99 of ESP at one side of the discharge guide 11e for blocking view to a white colored scroll 9 from outside. As explained, there is the discharge guide 11e on the orifice 11, the orifice 11 is inserted between the indoor heat exchanger 5 and the sirocco fan 13 starting from an upper portion to a lower portion, i.e., in a top-down fashion. The sirocco fan 13 inside of the scroll 9 causes air to flow through the inlet 3i, indoor heat exchanger 5, and the orifice hole 12. The sirocco fan 13 causes air to be drawn through the orifice hole 12 and flowed along a circumference thereof. The air flowed along the circumference is guided along a flow guide surface 9g and flows toward the discharge guide 11e. 
The description up to now is for the indoor side of the window type air conditioner, and hereafter the outdoor side of the window type air conditioner will be explained.
There is a motor 15 fitted on an outdoor side (rear side) of the air guide 7 for rotating the sirocco fan 13 and the fan 17. The motor 15 has a rotating shaft projected in front and rear directions, one of which is passed through the air guide 7, projected up to a center of the scroll 9, and coupled with the sirocco fan 13, and the other of which on the outdoor side is coupled with the fan 17 for drawing air from outside of the air conditioner and passed through the indoor heat exchanger 19 for heat exchange. The fan 17 has a ring 17r for connecting end edges of the blades. There is a fan shroud 18 fitted on the base pan 1 for guiding air flow from the fan 17. The fan shroud 18 has a hole 18xe2x80x2 in communication with the outdoor heat exchanger 19. The outdoor heat exchanger 19 is fitted on an outside portion of the base pan 1 opposite to the fan shroud 18. Though not shown, there are a compressor, an expansion valve, and the like, components of an air conditioning cycle, fitted to the outside portion. The different components of the air conditioner are enclosed by an outer case 20 which forms an outer cover of the air conditioner. For the window type air conditioner, the indoor portion is placed in a space for air conditioning and the outdoor portion is placed on the outside of the room.
The operation of the air conditioner will be explained.
Upon putting the air conditioner into operation, the air conditioning cycle comes into operation, and the motor 15 rotates the sirocco fan 13 as well as the fan 17. According to this, room air is provided to the indoor heat exchanger 5 through the inlet 3i. The air undergoes a temperature drop as the air passes through the indoor heat exchanger and exchanges heat with the operation fluid. The air is then provided to the sirocco fan 13 through the orifice hole 12. The air drawn into the sirocco fan 13 is guided along a circumferential direction of the sirocco fan 13 and discharged therefrom. Then, the air is guided along a flow guide surface 9g of the scroll 9 and provided to the discharge guide 11e. The low temperature air provided to the discharge guide 11e is discharged into the room through the discharge grill 3e. In the meantime, on the outdoor side, the operation for discharging heat from the operation fluid received from the indoor heat exchanger 5 is in progress. That is, external air drawn by the fan 17 is heat exchanged with the operation fluid as the air passes through the outdoor heat exchanger 19, to discharge the heat to outside of the air conditioner.
However, the foregoing window type air conditioner has the following problems.
First, the related art window type air conditioner uses the sirocco fan 13 for drawing room air. The sirocco fan, designed for a high rate of air flow has numerous short blades, each curved opposite to a direction of rotation, requires the scroll 9 and an additional air guide for forming an air flow. This causes various problems. In particular, the air is discharged from the sirocco fan 13 in a circumferential direction throughout the flow guide surface 9g. Therefore, the air discharged to an upper stream of the flow guide surface 9g continues to flow along the flow guide surface 9g and is involved in a pressure build up as the air goes to a downstream, providing resistance to rotation of the sirocco fan 13. Moreover, as the air is concentrated at the downstream portion of the flow guide surface 9g, the air flows partially to one side of the discharge guide 11e. At the end, the air discharge is not uniform throughout the discharge grill 3e. 
Second, the discharge guide 11e assembled on the air guide 7 and the scroll 9 is formed on the orifice 11 as one unit with the orifice 11, requiring orifice 11 to be put into place after the air guide 7 and the scroll 9 are assembled, and requiring assembly of the discharge guide 11e and the air guide at the same time as assembly of the orifice 11. Therefore, the assembly has been very inconvenient. Moreover, the unitized orifice 11 and discharge guide 11e puts many limitations on the formation of the orifice itself.
Third, the top-down fashion assembly of the orifice 11 puts limitations on the shape of the sirocco fan 13, a counter part of the orifice 11. In particular, the orifice 11 fitted in front of the sirocco fan 13 is required to provide the air passed through the indoor heat exchanger 5 to the sirocco fan 13 accurately without leakage. Therefore, when the orifice 11 and the sirocco fan 13 are assembled in top-down fashion, facing surfaces of the sirocco fan 13 and the orifice 11 has to be flat to bring them into contact. Moreover, even if the facing surfaces of the orifice 11 and the sirocco fan 13 are formed flat to bring them into contact, a gap between the orifice 11 and the sirocco fan 13 having different tolerances, causes air leakage.
Fourth, the discharge guide 11e formed on the orifice 11 as one unit with the orifice 11 is weak in strength, because the coupling parts 11xe2x80x2 coupled with the top of the air guide 7 are separated from each other. Defective assembly coming from distorted coupling parts 11xe2x80x2 shakes during operation of the air conditioner, to generate noise from this part.
Lastly, the air guide 7 unitized with the brace 7B and the control box storage space 8 is not easy to form. That is, the unitization of many components to form a large body causes difficulty in formation of a mold, and production of the air guide 7.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a window type air conditioner that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a window type air conditioner which has a simple construction and discharges cooled air from a discharge part uniformly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a window type air conditioner which can improve convenience of assembly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a window type air conditioner which has an air guide, a simple structure, and an improved strength.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a window type air conditioner which causes no air leakage between indoor side components as assembly between an orifice and an air guide that guides air flow on the indoor side is precise.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the window type air conditioner includes an indoor heat exchanger for heat exchange with room air, an outdoor heat exchanger for heat exchange with external air, an air guide for partitioning a space for fitting the indoor heat exchanger and a space for fitting the outdoor heat exchanger, a turbo fan fitted inside of the air guide directly, for discharging the room air heat exchanged as the room air passes through the indoor heat exchanger and a fan fitted to outside of the air guide for discharging the external air heat exchanged as the external air passes through the outdoor heat exchanger.
The air guide includes a partition plate having the turbo fan fitted in a central portion and partitioning the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger, and sidewall parts at both sides of the partition plate substantially perpendicular to the partition plate.
Preferably, the window type air conditioner further includes an orifice between the indoor heat exchanger and the turbo fan for effectively directing passed through the indoor heat exchanger. The orifice includes a partition wall having an orifice hole formed therein for passing the air therethrough, and coupling parts formed at both sides of, and substantially perpendicular to the partition wall having one side coupled to both ends of the indoor heat exchanger, and the other end coupled to both ends of the air guide.
Preferably, the window type air conditioner further includes a discharge guide on the air guide for effectively directing air from the turbo fan to the room. The discharge guide includes a horizontal member having a discharge part, and a partition part at a rear end thereof, and substantially perpendicular to the horizontal member for partitioning an indoor side and an outdoor side.
Thus, the window type air conditioner of the present invention dispenses with separate air flow means, such as the scroll in the related art, and maintains a uniform flow rate owing. to the use of the turbo fan, and to have a simple air conditioner structure, and improved strength, and ease of assembly.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window type air conditioner including an indoor heat exchanger for heat exchange with room air, an outdoor heat exchanger for heat exchange with external air, a lower air guide for separating a space the indoor heat exchanger is mounted therein from a space the outdoor heat exchanger is mounted therein, an orifice fitted at a front of the lower air guide for guiding the air passed through the indoor heat exchanger to an inside of the lower air guide, an upper air guide mounted at the top of the lower air guide to make surface to surface contact with the orifice and the upper air guide, a turbo fan directly fitted to an inside of the lower air guide for discharging the air being heat exchanged as the air passes through the outdoor heat exchanger into a room, and a fan fitted outside of the lower air guide for discharging the air being heat exchanged as the air passes through the outdoor heat exchanger to outside of room.
The orifice includes an orifice hole formed at a central portion thereof for directing air flow, and a seating step formed along the top thereof with a step, and the upper air guide formed to mate with the seating step, such that the upper air guide includes a seating ridge having a lower end for seating on the seating step, and a side for making close contact with a side of the seating step.
The seating step formed in top of the orifice includes a round part, and the upper air guide includes a round part at a lower surface thereof matched to the round part of the seating step in the orifice, and insertion guides formed on the round part on the lower surface of the upper air guide matched to the round part of the upper air guide for guiding insertion of the seating step and supporting the seating step.
The upper air guide includes end insertion guides in positions matched to the seating ridge for guiding insertion of both ends of the top of the orifice, and maintaining a coupled state firmly after coupling.
In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a window type air conditioner including an indoor heat exchanger for heat exchange with room air, an outdoor heat exchanger for heat exchange with external air, a lower air guide for separating a space the indoor heat exchanger is mounted therein from a space the outdoor heat exchanger is mounted therein, an orifice fitted at a front of the lower air guide for guiding the air passed through the indoor heat exchanger to an inside of the lower air guide, an upper air guide assembled to a top of the lower air guide to make surface to surface contact with the orifice and the upper air guide, leakage preventing means provided at matched positions of a rear wall of the lower air guide and a rear wall of the upper air guide, the rear wall of the lower air guide being provided for partitioning an indoor side and an outdoor side, and the rear wall of the upper air guide is provided for partitioning an indoor side and an outdoor side, a turbo fan directly fitted to an inside of the lower air guide for discharging the air being heat exchanged as the air passes through the indoor heat exchanger into a room, and a fan fitted outside of the lower air guide for discharging the air having a heat exchanged as the air passes through the outdoor heat exchanger to the outside of the room.
The leakage preventing means includes a holding slot opened in a horizontal direction in a central top surface of the rear wall of the lower air guide, a holding piece projected backward from the rear wall of the upper air guide at a position matched to the holding slot for being held by the holding slot in the lower air guide, a sealing ridge extended along the top of the rear wall of the lower air guide, an insertion slot in a bottom surface of the rear wall of the upper air guide at a position matched to the sealing ridge for insertion of the sealing ridge thereto, reinforcing ribs at top of the control box seating part opposite to each other, and insertion ribs at positions matched to the reinforcing ribs for inserting between the reinforcing ribs.
The upper air guide includes opposite supporting ribs on one side of a bottom surface thereof for insertion into the pipe seating part of the lower air guide to support between the control box seating part and one sidewall of the lower air guide.
The leakage preventing means further includes a sill projected from a lower surface of, and extended in left and right directions on the lower air guide, an overlap part having a seating part formed as a step to make surface to surface contact with the sill for seating on a top of the sill, and a stopper for guiding the overlap part toward the sill, and supporting the overlap part toward the sill when coupled.
The leakage preventing means further includes sealing plates formed on both sides of the orifice in up and down directions for making close contact with sides of the lower air guide, and a sloped sealing strip formed on a rear surface of the orifice in a form to be matched to guide surface formed in an inside space of the lower air guide for making surface to surface contact with the guide surface.
The leakage preventing means further includes catch projections formed on both sides of the lower air guide, catch holes formed in the sealing plates of the orifice to be matched with the catch projections, and another catch projections on a back surface of the orifice opposite to the sealing plates, each with a gap to the sealing plate the same with a thickness of the sidewall of the lower air guide.
The leakage preventing means further includes toes on lower ends of the orifice for covering both ends of the catches on the lower air guide to prevent air leakage.
The orifice further includes sealing ridges projected forward from both sides of the orifice for making close contact with channels on both sides of the indoor heat exchanger.
The sealing ridge includes a plurality of reinforcing stoppers for maintaining straightness of the sealing ridges and defining a mounting position of the indoor heat exchanger, to prevent gap formation between the channel of the indoor heat exchanger and the sealing ridge.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.